Opioid crisis: 'You know someone who is affected by this'

In 2016, there were 83.9 opioid prescriptions written per 100 Indiana residents.
Stephen J. Beard/IndyStar

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Indianapolis EMS Paramedic Michael Lewis shows vials of Naloxone HCl on an ambulance at Eskenazi Hospital, Tuesday, January 10, 2017, that would be given to patients who suffered opioid overdoses.(Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar)Buy Photo

A father who lost his daughter to an overdose after seven months of sobriety. A paramedic who has witnessed the ravaging effects of withdrawal. A lawmaker whose life changed the day a grieving mother opened his eyes to how close drugs lurk to his own life. A tough-on-crime prosecutor who didn't know his sister was using heroin.

These people have seen first-hand the toll the opioid and heroin epidemic is taking on Indiana: The 136 percent increase in drug poisoning deaths; the 3,000 hospital emergency room visits a year for nonfatal drug overdoses. The surge in the number of children being removed from their homes because of parental substance abuse.

And yet, many continue to believe the crisis is someone else's problem.

Over the next year, IndyStar will delve into Indiana's opioid crisis. We will shine a light on how the epidemic is affecting our schools, health care systems, businesses, public safety and more.

But first, we want you to hear from people whose lives have been touched by opioids, whether prescription medication or street drugs. We asked people from throughout Indiana to answer the simple question: "If you could tell me one thing about the opioid crisis, what it would be?"

A grieving father

"Please don’t turn your head — or think this couldn’t affect you. I lost my precious daughter this year, and it almost took me, too.

"Her friend had a small surgery, and it all started with some Vicodin. When the script was gone, they wanted more. The addiction took over. And when the pills were hard to find, they found heroin. I never knew snorting heroin could kill you. When I heard or read of overdoses, I thought of needles. On February 18, 2017, my baby lost her life after snorting heroin. I beg you: Please be aware of pain meds."

— Woody Wethington, Greenwood. Wethington’s daughter Jasmine died at age 23 from an overdose, the day after she celebrated seven months of sobriety. Wethington, a recovering addict, entered rehab in 2016 after becoming addicted to pain medications following an accident in 2009. He became a volunteer recovery coach in 2017.

A committed lawmaker

"It is so prevalent and so widespread that you know someone who is affected by this. All 6.6 million Hoosiers are affected by this.

"We need to redouble our efforts on prevention by getting into schools. … There are probably 10 really great prevention programs in the state of Indiana; there needs to be 100.

"And, obviously, we need to focus on law enforcement by putting these drug dealers in jail.

"Fighting this epidemic is very much a part of my life. And it gives me fuel to continue on the track of finding and creating a comprehensive approach to killing heroin."

— Indiana Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, who has served on the Governor’s Task Force on Drug Enforcement Treatment and authored multiple bills addressing the state’s opioid epidemic, including Aaron’s Law that allows anyone to obtain a prescription for naloxone, which can counteract the effects of an overdose. Aaron's Law is named for a former Lawrence North football player who died of an overdose in 2013. It was Aaron's mother, Justin Phillips, who challenged Merritt to address the opioid crisis. Merritt has a goal of eradicating the epidemic in five years.

A frustrated foster mother

"The people who are doing these drugs just don’t think about what it does to the children. Now we have a 3-year-old who is terrified of police officers and has major separation anxiety because he was basically ripped out of his home. He was completely traumatized because his mom hid him and his (baby) brother under some sheets so the police would not know there were kids in the house. The home of a drug user is a crazy world."

— Foster mother Emily Towner, Indianapolis, who with her husband Rob took in three siblings (now ages 8, 3 and 14 months) after the children's home was raided by SWAT officers.

A man in recovery

"Drug addicts are not bad people. Those in active addiction are in a dark scary place. … I also want people to know that there is medical help for certain symptoms but not a medical solution to a spiritual problem. The bad part about it is everyone I know that is or was addicted to heroin, started with pain pills that were prescribed by a doctor. I haven't heard one person say, "Yea, I just decided one day that it would be a good day to start doing heroin."

"The last thing I want to say is we all started as children. I can guarantee not a single heroin addict said 'When I grow up I want to be a junkie.' I never wanted addiction or any of the hell I brought on myself because of it. However, I am grateful for it all because I have grown and learned from it in order to help others. So with that, I have found the best way to get others to a solution of recovery is to meet them right where they are and show them a better way. The solution I have found has made my life a million times better than I could have ever imagined."

— Daniel Potter lives on Indianapolis' northwest side. He is a graduate of Ben Davis High School.

A national leader

“We have to make it as easy for people to get help as it is for them to get high.”

— Dr. Jerome Adams, U.S. surgeon general and former Indiana state health commissioner. During his tenure leading the state health department, he helped form the response to the 2015 HIV outbreak linked to intravenous drug use in Scott County. He played a key role in convincing Gov. Mike Pence to allow a syringe exchange program to help halt the spread of the disease.

A public health nurse

"It doesn’t matter your background or where you came from, you know somebody that’s going through this. It may be a co-worker, a family member or a friend. … These are people, and they’re people you know. We need to help them.”

A visionary ER doctor

"At heart, the opioid epidemic it's not really about opioids. An opioid-use disorder, for most of my patients, is the final common expression of a lot of brokenness, missed opportunities and frustrations all lined up in precisely the wrong way. The pain and suffering we see in the ER every day is the end product of series of breakdowns in brain biochemistry, families, health care systems, insurers, drug companies, employers, schools and the many local, state and federal agencies meant to support and protect all of us — especially in times of suffering."

A front-line paramedic

“If you haven't seen what the brain does to your body when detoxing from opioids, you will never understand the power of this addiction. You think quitting caffeine or smoking is bad? I sometimes think people overdose because they think it's the only way out.”

— Bill Eberhardt, Indianapolis Emergency Management Services paramedic and member of the Mobile Crisis Assistance Team. The team consists of a police officer, a paramedic and a licensed clinician. They respond to crisis calls across Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's East District, potentially involving domestic, emotional or substance abuse.

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Brooke Hartwell (left), an Eskenazi Health Midtown clinician; Melissa Lemrick, an IMPD officer; and Bill Eberhardt, an Indianapolis EMS paramedic, are members of the newly formed Mobile Crisis Assistance Team, an inter-agency group that will respond to issues of mental health and other crises, Indianapolis, Tuesday, July 25, 2017.(Photo: Robert Scheer/IndyStar)

An activist mom

"I think it’s closer to home than people think. It doesn’t discriminate against family or friends or loved one."

— Kristy Nelson, whose 20-year-old son Bryan died in 2009 from opioid overdose. Nelson and her husband, Bill, work with Drug Free Marion County to share their story with other parents.

A state leader

"It cuts across all socioeconomic lines. It’s in our cities, suburbs, small towns and rural areas. This epidemic has been developing for 20 years. It’s a complex problem with many pieces, and there are no quick or easy solutions. But, if enough people work together, we can end the epidemic in far less time than it took to create it.

“Treatment for an opioid use disorder generally takes longer and the risk of relapse is higher. This makes it especially important to have strong, sustainable supports in recovery."

— Jim McClelland, Indiana's executive director for drug prevention, treatment and enforcement. McClelland has said he is focusing on two areas: ensuring people who overdose have access to naloxone, a drug that can revive them, and creating more options for effective addiction treatment.

A law enforcement innovator

“It is not a one-dimensional problem. It is a topic without a simple cause or a simple answer and it permeates all layers of an organized society. Mitigating this crisis will require all of our institutions and service providers to cross lines and find new ways of coming together and developing innovative approaches to this problem. Truly impacting this issue will require compassion and support from all citizens and neighbors.”

A recovery expert

"Try not to accept a prescription of pain pills or try not to fill it unless you really need it. … If you don’t use it but you’ve got those in your possession, you’re putting … somebody at risk to abuse those.”

The overdose death of Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper's sister shaped his view on prosecuting and treating drug crimes.
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar

A tough-on-crime prosecutor

“Before this heroin epidemic became a big thing, my sister became addicted to opioids. She had a sports injury and became addicted to pain medicine. That led to heroin use. She got a bad dose, or took too much or didn’t know what she was doing. She overdosed and died in 2008.

"That story was very rare then. Now it’s common.

"This has shaped the two-tiered approach to how we attack the crisis in Johnson County.

"I truly believe in aggressively going after drug dealers. Getting them off the street so they can’t provide drugs to people like my sister.

"The users, we try to get into the best treatment facilities so they can stop using and stop committing the crimes that go with using heroin.”

— Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper. His sister. Leah Cooper McMillan. was 26-years-old when she died in the Whitestown home she shared with her husband. Lab tests concluded she overdosed on heroin. Cooper didn't know she was using the drug.

Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper talks about results from a heroin treatment program June 7, 2016.(Photo: Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar)

A treatment provider

"Treatment works. Being a leader in substance abuse treatment services, I have personally seen more 1,000 patients find their way to recovery through treatment. I also have seen it personally in my family. It starts with knowing you cannot conquer it on your own and that treatment works."

IndyStar’s “State of Addiction: Confronting Indiana's Opioid Crisis” series is made possible through the support of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, a nonprofit foundation working to advance the vitality of Indianapolis and the well-being of its people.